Ezra 1:5-11
Summary for Ezra 1:5-6: 1:5-6 a As he had done with the heart of Cyrus (1:1 b), God stirred the hearts of Israel’s leaders.• Very few priests and Levites actually responded (see 2:36-42 c). Most of the people who did respond were from two tribes, Judah and Benjamin. Persian documents show that many Jews stayed in Babylon, where they had homes, businesses, and relatives. A dangerous four-month trip back to the desolate city of Jerusalem, now inhabited by foreigners, was not an inviting choice compared to their comfortable life in Babylon. It was much easier to give many valuable gifts and voluntary offerings to those who did return.
1:7 d Many articles ... from the Lord’s Temple had been taken to Babylon (see 2 Chr 36:7 e; Dan 1:2 f). By putting these items in his pagan temple, Nebuchadnezzar had attempted to show his god’s power over the Hebrew God. However, God had promised the return of all the stolen items (see Jer 27:16-22 g). The items from the Temple were holy utensils, acceptable to God for worship and very valuable to the returning worshipers.
1:8 h Sheshbazzar was the Persian-appointed governor of Judah who laid the foundation of the Temple (5:14-16 i). Some believe that Zerubbabel (3:2 j, 8 k) was the same person with a new name (cp. Dan 1:7 l). However, both names are Babylonian, so it is more likely that these two leaders worked together on the Temple foundation and that Zerubbabel later took over as governor when Sheshbazzar died.
Summary for Ezra 1:9-11: 1:9-11 m 5,400 articles of gold and silver: The numbers listed total only 2,499 items. A parallel account, in the apocryphal book 1 Esdras 2:13-15, lists 5,469 items, while a list in the Jewish historian Josephus’s Antiquities 11.15 lists 5,220 objects. Ezra’s shortened list illustrates the kind of items included but does not include every item. Keeping track of consecrated utensils reduced the possibility of confusing these sacred items with the pagan utensils used in the worship of other gods.
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